


Yellow Card

by unitedrepublicoffandom



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Football | Soccer, Gen, Missing Scene, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:27:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25402324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unitedrepublicoffandom/pseuds/unitedrepublicoffandom
Summary: The missing five minutes between Andy and Nile stepping outside, and the boys being attacked by Copley's men.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 8
Kudos: 352





	Yellow Card

The church door heaves shut behind Andy as she follows Nile out into the cemetery.

Booker lets out a sigh. He switches the gun in his hand for a silver flask and takes a long drink. He knows all too well the dreams Nile is now unfortunate enough to receive. They’ve been haunting him for 200 years.

He groans as he gets up out of his shitty excuse for a bed. This night wasn’t going to get any better. Booker makes for the leather chair across the room and switches on the tv. Glad that they had the common sense to get one last time they used the safehouse. The football comes on and that’s good enough for him to pass the time, to ignore the heaviness in his chest. Like his lungs are burning from water. He absently rubs at it. He focuses back to the tv screen. It’s an old replay, a few years ago if he isn’t mistaken, looking at the players on the field.

Joe’s form blocks the game as he makes his way past to take up residence in the seat next to him. Pulling his sketch book out and flipping to a new page.

“Who’s playing?” Joe asks as he starts an outline, eyes finally glancing up to the screen.

“Old friendly between France and Italy”.

“Habibi your team is on!” Joe’s voice echoes across the large room.

He hears Nicky's exasperated sigh from across the room. “You know how I feel about that sport.”

“Yes yes you’re the only Italian in the world who doesn’t like football.”

A chuckle manages to escape from Booker. A century old joke amongst them that they’ve never grown tired of. Nicky never took a liking to the sport like he and Joe had. Complained every time they took him to a match.

Booker looks up and Nicky’s made his way back into the kitchen now, book in hand. He too also resigned to not getting anymore sleep. Holding something 19th century from what he can see from the cover.

*****

Nicky settles into a chair at the dining table and Joe tears his eyes away and back to the tv. It’s been a while since he and Booker caught a game together, maybe after they tie up this Copley nonsense, they’ll be able to catch one in a stadium. Drag Nicky along with them too.

Booker rises in his chair, profanities streaming out in French. _Aah_ a Italian player has tripped up one of the Frenchmen. The referee pulls out a yellow card. Joe starts to take a crack at the referee and the French when there’s a loud bang. The door to their left has been blown into the room. Joe sees the armed men, instinctively leaps out of his chair and breaks for the kitchen. _Nicolò._

Another bang goes off. Booker screams. Smoke is starting to fill the church. Nicky’s eyes are wide as he leaps up from the table towards him. Several gun shots ring out and Joe falls to the ground. He coughs, his eyes are stinging from the smoke, pain searing through his back. It’s getting harder to breathe. Harder to see. He can hear Nicky coughing somewhere ahead of him. More gun shots echo off the stone walls.

There's a faint wheeze. “Yusuf.”

A hand takes his. One he could recognise anywhere. His Nicolò. 

Everything goes dark.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry to all the soccer/football loving Italians out there. I just find it particularly amusing if Nicky actually hates the sport and the endless jokes this fuels for Booker and Joe over the decades. Watching sport is the bonding activity for the two which makes Booker’s betrayal just that much more hurtful for Joe.
> 
> This is my 2nd ever fic so any feedback is much appreciated!
> 
> Tumblr @buckystilinski


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